Italy looks to Lufthansa for Alitalia partner

In what may be prove to be a blow for Air France-KLM’s renewed efforts to play a role in Alitalia following its privatization and restructuring, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hinted that he would prefer a partnership with Lufthansa instead. The conservative head of government noted that Lufthansa would be the most “suitable” international partner for Alitalia, even though Air France-KLM and British Airways are reportedly both interested as well.

But before there can be any discussion about possible partners, alliances and mergers, Alitalia’s insolvency administrators will have to find a way to appease unions that hesitated to accept the carrier’s proposed restructuring this evening. As we reported earlier today, four out of nine unions have already signed onto a deal that would result in 3,000 job cuts. Representatives of flight attendants and pilots are still holding off and some have warned that there may be labour disruption in the coming days. But Berlusconi countered by warning that a failure to sign the deal within the coming days, would lead to the liquidation of Alitalia’s assets within a matter of weeks. Alitalia now has only €30 million remaining in its coffers, while the company produces a loss of more than €1million each day.

Thank you to Forbes for the initial report.

www.alitalia.com